"joost_1972" <joo### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
> If anyone has good advice for which program is easiest to use with povray, I'd
> like to hear it :-)

Reading "easiest to use", I can't help but think "Wings3D"!

It's a 3D mesh modeller that is free, includes POV export, and is *very* easy to
learn.

To me the key feature was the two UI modes it offers; the standard mode provides
only a subset of the program's functionality, but that subset is very
well-chosen, and makes the UI mind-bogglingly easy to grasp. Once you've gotten
used to it, it's again quite easy to move on to the "advanced menus" mode, and
start to explore all the additional functionality it provides.

I have no doubt that Blender is a more powerful tool, but Wings3D can get you
pretty far, too. And while I've heard of plenty people who found Blender's UI
*particularly* difficult to grasp (including myself), I've never heard of
anyone who found Wings3D particularly limited in functionality.


If you don't want to go for meshes, but stick with POV's primitives and CSG
instead, Bishop3D and Moray seem to be the most popular ones, and both are said
to be quite good, although Bishop3D is officially still in public beta phase.

AFAIK Moray is still shareware, but is currently undergoing transition to free
open source software.

Bishop3D, on the other hand, is in public beta phase, and as such currently
available for free, but will eventually be shareware. Beta testers are welcome,
and I gather they will be rewarded with a free license for the release, so maybe
you may want to give it a try, and give them feedback about how well their
product is suited for beginners?

(There's nothing like having your product tested by a beginner - they tend to
have a much fresher view on things than experienced users, who are often kind
of "blinded" by their experience... let alone that beginners also stumble into
pitfalls which experienced users just instinctively "jump over" without even
being aware of it.)

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